#Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia in rare move
still mist
edgy snow
does this actually impact ai chips? They only talk about consumer electronics.
still mist
I believe they are investing in wide-bandgap semiconductors which are relevant for datacentres
lofty hawk
mhhh.... looks like something might be boiling up behind the doors of power. :/
still mist
More details on the Dutch government's move in this FT article
https://www.ft.com/content/605e5456-9437-47ff-be6a-edc5c82810f2
raven phoenix
I've read a bunch of articles on this, but I can't make sense of it. I feel like I'm relatively knowledgeable about the overlap of chips and NL government, but I'm at a loss here.
still mist
On the face of it, the Dutch government suspects that leaks from Nexperia would expose secrets about the technology to China, and had seized control to try and prevent that. Do you think that story doesn't add up?
raven phoenix
leaks from Nexperia would expose secrets about the technology to China
it's owned by a chinese company, which makes it a chinese company, not a dutch one (at least, that would seem sensible to me). Nexperia has R&D facilities all across the globe. What would Nexperia possess that's secret and can't be shared with their chinese owners?
And besides, nexperia makes relatively boring (non high-end) chips, unlike TSMC (used for AI hardware). Used in all sorts of appliances, that's true, but I think far less monopolistic / un-replaceable. The big NL chip company is ASML, which is being hacked by china pretty much all the time because China wants to steal ASML lithography tech. I never considered Nexperia to be that much more important.
This law is never used before. It's a geopolitical escalation, meant for emergencies. Why now? Why this? I don't get it.
@still mist
still mist
> leaks from Nexperia would expose secrets about the technology to China
it's...
Looks like a good reason to doubt the brief description of events provided in the various news articles about the move. Then I'm at a loss as well.
lofty hawk
Maybe just signaling to China (or inside)? Start with a small company to show them the tool kit and that you are willing to use it? Try the method? Get folks used to it? Something like this...?
I guess the take away should be, that tensions are a bit up now internationally and things seem to accelerate twords conflict?
Furthermore, we might underestimate the ability of the EU gov. to grasp the severity of tech. progress?
Von der Leyen stated in May that they expect 'human level reasoning' by 2026...
still mist
A possible explanation - the Dutch government may be seeking access to tech advances made by China in the future, rather than being concerned about current technology methods in the Netherlands being disclosed. That could be a motivation for the Nexperia takeover.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/eu-china-investments-conditions-tech-transfers-5401681
still mist
Political pressure from the US is the cause. Nexperia was previously not on the US 'entity list' for export controls, but it recently expanded the list to include subsidiaries, which will face the same restrictions as the parent company.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/15/tech/netherlands-nexperia-us-china-tech-war-intl-hnk
still mist
Further developments on this story:
- On October 4, Beijing issued a ban on Nexperia China and subcontractors from exporting finished components from China.
- About 70 per cent of all Nexperia products are assembled in its factory in Dongguan, in southern Guangdong province.
- China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday said it is looking to exempt some Nexperia orders from the export ban.
